These paleo Almond Flour Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins have a light, fluffy texture and are BURSTING with fresh lemon flavor. They’re the perfect yummy breakfast or snack! (Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free!
We live in one of the sunniest states in the U.S., so we have VERY mild winters, but I always find that March feels like turning an energizing corner from winter to spring. In the kitchen, this means I only have a little longer to wait before berries are in season (my kids can’t WAIT), and we have the last of winter’s sunny citrus to send us off.
Lemon always tastes like sunshine to me, which is why I get the itch to make all things lemon this time of year! I’ve posted plenty of lemon recipes on this blog from soup to salad to cake, and today I’ve got a lemony breakfast that feels perfect for spring (or Easter brunch down the road): paleo Almond Flour Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins!
Packed with LOTS of bright lemon flavor and dotted with poppy seeds, these light, tender, fluffy muffins are made from better-for-you ingredients and taste incredible. Like, IN👏CRE👏DI👏BLE👏.
Preheat the oven and bust out the muffin pan! Here’s all you need to get started on this easy muffin recipe…
Simple Ingredients To Start
- LEMON ZEST + LEMON JUICE. To start off, these paleo lemon poppy seed muffins get a super-charged dose of lemon flavor with a combination of fresh lemon zest and fresh lemon juice.
- AVOCADO OIL. I like avocado oil because it’s so neutral-tasting, but you can substitute another neutral oil, if you like.
- EGGS. A few large eggs help bind the batter together and help give these paleo muffins their soft, springy texture.
- (DAIRY-FREE) MILK. We’re dairy-free, so I use a dairy-free milk like almond milk, cashew milk, etc. You can use whatever your family drinks! The milk will also take on some acidity from the lemon juice, which adds a buttermilk effect here. The result is extra light, fluffy, tender muffins. Win-win!
- MAPLE SYRUP OR HONEY. To keep these almond flour muffins naturally sweetened, I love using pure maple syrup or some good-quality honey. Both allow the lemon flavor to really shine!
- VANILLA + LEMON EXTRACT (OPTIONAL). Vanilla extract adds another layer of sweetness and tastes lovely with the lemon. If you like your lemon muffins extra punchy (like I do!), I recommend adding the optional lemon extract. (You can also use 1 drop food grade lemon essential oil)
- ALMOND FLOUR. You’re looking for finely ground blanched almond flour. The finer, the better! Almond flour is pretty moist and a little dense on its own, so I pair it with…
- TAPIOCA STARCH OR ARROWROOT. You can use either of these starchy flours that keep the muffins light and fluffy and give them their soft, delicate crumb. I don’t recommend skipping it or substituting it with more almond flour, or your muffins will not rise and hold together as well. (Don’t have either of these? Cornstarch is your best substitute.)
- BAKING POWDER + BAKING SODA + SALT. The baking powder and soda give these gluten free lemon poppy seed muffins their lovely rise, keep them tender, and neutralize the acidity of the lemon juice. Then, salt helps balance the flavors. (Paleo? See the FAQ below!)
- POPPY SEEDS. Poppy seeds won’t really add much flavor-wise, but they’re a pretty addition to the muffins and give them their signature look. I get mine in the spices section of the grocery store.
Key Ingredient: Almond Flour
This recipe was specifically formulated with fine almond flour in mind. For best results and the perfect texture, look for finely ground, blanched almond flour (NOT almond meal, which has a coarser, grittier texture). Don’t try to substitute gluten-free 1:1 flour, coconut flour, or oat flour here. We usually find the best price on brands at Costco!
How To Make Almond Flour Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Step By Step
As always, you can find the full recipe with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.
- Preheat & Prep. To start, preheat oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin pan or line with parchment paper liners.
- Combine Wet Ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Stir together lemon zest, lemon juice, milk, syrup, oil, eggs, vanilla, and lemon extract (if using). Whisk until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients. Next, add almond flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds to the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined.
- Bonus Points: Let The Batter Rest. If you have time, I recommend letting the batter rest 30-60 minutes before baking. This gives the flour time to hydrate and the baking powder more time to work, which means you’ll get taller, more tender muffins!
- Bake Muffins. Scoop or spoon muffin batter into prepared muffin pan. (You can get 10 bigger muffins or 12 small muffins out of this batter.) If desired, sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake muffins at 350 degrees F. for 15-18 minutes, or until slightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs. Allow muffins to cool 1 minute in the muffin pan before transferring to a wire rack.
FAQ + Tips And Tricks For The Best Almond Flour Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
PALEO? READ THIS. These can absolutely be made as paleo lemon poppy seed muffins, as almost every ingredient is paleo-approved. If you’re strictly paleo, you’ll want to substitute a paleo baking powder option and skip the optional dusting of turbinado sugar. All the other ingredients are A-ok!
CAN I USE ANOTHER FLOUR? Not in this recipe. I don’t recommend swapping in coconut flour or omitting the tapioca starch or arrowroot. This gluten-free lemon poppyseed muffins recipe was tested based on the moisture of the almond flour (which is different than white flour or gluten-free flour blends). The one exception is you *can* use cornstarch in place of the arrowroot or tapioca flour.
WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO STORE LEFTOVER MUFFINS? I store leftover lemon poppy seed muffins in a bag or airtight container on the counter for 1-2 days, or in the refrigerator for 2-3. They’ll also keep up to a couple of months in the freezer!
THE BEST MUFFIN PANS & MUFFIN CUPS. For perfectly non-stick lemon poppy seed muffins, I recommend using parchment paper muffin liners like these in a metal muffin pan. You’ll get golden edges and the wrappers come right off. If you don’t want to fuss with liners, we love using a silicone muffin pan like this. They’re great and naturally nonstick!
Recipe Card
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Almond Flour Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (Gluten Free, Paleo)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 10–12 Muffins 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These almond flour lemon poppy seed muffins have a light, fluffy texture and are BURSTING with bright lemon flavor. They’re the perfect yummy breakfast or snack!
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- 1/3 cup milk* (I use unsweetened almond milk)
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup or honey
- 1/4 cup avocado oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract or 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil
For the Dry Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour (finely ground)
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch or arrowroot*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds*
Optional: 2-3 tsp. turbinado sugar for decoration.
Instructions
- Preheat & Prep. To start, preheat oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin pan or line with parchment paper liners.
- Combine Wet Ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Stir together lemon zest, lemon juice, milk, syrup, oil, eggs, vanilla, and lemon extract (if using). Whisk until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients. Next, add almond flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds to the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined.
- Bake Muffins. Scoop or spoon muffin batter into prepared muffin pan. (You can get 10 bigger muffins or 12 small muffins out of this batter.) If desired, sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake muffins at 350 degrees F. for 15-18 minutes, or until slightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs. Allow muffins to cool 1 minute in the muffin pan before transferring to a wire rack.
- Store leftover muffins in an airtight container 1-2 days at room temperature. Or, freeze up to 2 months.
Notes
- Milk. You can use any kind of milk for this recipe–dairy or non-dairy. Whatever you drink!
- Flour. No substitutes will work in this recipe for the almond flour. If you don’t have/can’t find tapioca starch or arrowroot, you can substitute cornstarch.
- Poppy Seeds. Make sure to use poppy seeds or leave them out. I do NOT recommend trying to substitute chia seeds (which will absorb liquid from the muffin batter.)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15-18 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Muffin
- Calories: 230
- Sugar: 7.1 g
- Sodium: 126.1 mg
- Fat: 18.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.3 g
- Fiber: 2.9 g
- Protein: 6.9 g
- Cholesterol: 46.5 mg
Originally published March 2020. Fully updated with improved recipe notes, step by step photos and video and republished March 2025.
These are by far the most light, fluffy, and delicious almond flour muffins that I have ever made. The recipe is beautiful as written. I also have made it with a mix of lemon and orange juice and zest, and that was outstanding as well. I found that 1/4 c sweetener is plenty; I just added an extra Tablespoon of juice to keep the liquid balance.
Thank you for this gift of a recipe!
Sandra, this is the kindest, loveliest review!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to share it (and your tips!).
Can I replace poppyseed with chia seed?
I wouldn’t, since chia seeds will absorb liquid from the batter, which could make your muffins turn out try. I’d just omit the seeds altogether if you don’t have/like poppy seeds 🙂
I made these yesterday. I made several changes though. We were out of lemon so I used fresh orange juice from a small orange and a large orange. I added vanilla, increased the honey by 1/4 cup and folded in a cup of coconut. Next time I would toast the coconut, but, they were delicious.
That DOES sound delicious! Thanks so much for sharing Molly!
Hi! I’ll be using cornstarch instead of tapioca and arrowroot, do I use the same amount 1/2 cup?
I haven’t made these with cornstarch, but I’d probably use the same 1/2 cup amount for starters. Best of luck!!!
Delicious texture. Could have been a tad bit sweeter for me, and a bit more lemony. Otherwise, so soft and moist, crisp on the edges, and so fluffy. Thanks 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Leah! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review!
Can you use any other oil besides avocado oil? Which is better to use Arrowroot or tapioca starch? I would like to be able to use whatever I get in other recipes.
You can substitute another neutral-tasting oil (like grapeseed, canola, etc.) in place of the avocado oil. Arrowroot and tapioca starch will both work equally well in this recipe. I think you’d be more likely to see arrowroot in other recipes, so if you’re going to invest in one, that’s one I’d recommend!
You can also use arrowroot in our Almond Flour Chocolate Zucchini Cake!
I’ve been struggling finding gf baking that satisfies my needs. I’ve tried few a gf recipes and they didn’t live up to the test. But this one does! So delicious !!! They rose well, didn’t fall apart, were moist and tasted sooooooooo good! Thank you for changing my mind that gf baking can be easy, and delicious!
I’m so happy that you loved them Julie!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!
THANK YOU for such a fabulous recipe, I just finished baking and eating one, and I am flawed by the lightness, moistness, and subtle sweetness of these muffins. They are wonderful. Thankfully, there are eleven more to enjoy! x
I’m SO GLAD you liked them, Kate!
I’m wondering what the best way to convert this recipe to almond poppyseed muffins might be? If I leave out the lemon juice what I need to increase the amount of almond milk? Of course I would add almond extract instead of lemon extract. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Currently waiting for them to come out of the oven… This quarantine has me eating so poorly lately… Trying to get back on track with a paleo-esque mostly grain/dairy free diet… I made a few substitutions I want to note in case they still come out good and it’s all someone else has on hand like me. I used chia seeds instead of poppy seeds, I used half almond flour and half sunflower seed flour, cornstarch instead of arrowroot or tapioca, 2 teaspoons dried zest instead of fresh,and coconut sugar syrup instead of honey or maple. they are dark I can tell so far, most likely due to the sunflower seeds and the coconut syrup.. we’ll see fingers crossed 😀 … Had enough batter for the 12 muffins and a tray of 24 minis, think I may have used to much sunflower seed flour, as I made it just for this and may have used a tad too many seeds… Oh well, the timers beeping…
I’ve used sunflower seed flour in the past to make chocolate chip cookies and after about a day i think it was baking soda or baking powder but it reacts and they turned green.. it was super cool, I kinda hope it happens with these as well..
OK ate a few mini ones, as they finished first… Pretty good, especially with butter.. I didn’t use the lemon extract so the lemon flavor is weak, but that’s ok for me… honestly they remind me kind of like cornbread muffins a little more than lemon poppy seed muffins, but I suspect that is mostly, if not entirely, to do with the consistency in which I ground my sunflower seed flour… Would be much better with %100 fine almond flour. I’d say chia seeds make a pretty good sub for poppy seeds as well…
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Delicious! Awesome lemon flavor and great moist texture. Kids and I made them to surprise my dairy-free / gluten-free wife this morning (Mother’s Day). We didn’t have poppy seeds so I added blueberries to half and chopped blackberries to other half. These muffins were a big hit. Thank you!! Will make them again soon.
Oh, wow! That’s fantastic! Love the idea of trying this recipe with berries. I bet that’s delicious!